We have found that competence within one or two courses does not necessarily transfer to other disciplinary contexts. A significant component of our project therefore includes assisting faculty who teach various disciplinary courses to:

      • articulate more explicitly the quantitative dimensions of their disciplines

      • plan activities to engage students in learning to recognize and use quantitative reasoning within these courses

      • assess for quantitative reasoning within appropriate intermediate and advanced level disciplinary courses.

      We began work with departments last year to identify appropriate courses where students with majors from many discipline areas would have opportunities to work on quantitative reasoning. Last summer a significant number of faculty participated in workshops and planning sessions to identify appropriate quantitative dimensions inherent in courses such as history, nursing, education, professional communication, art, and music. These faculty worked independently and in groups to develop learning experiences and assessments to use within courses this year. During the year, faculty consulted with the quantitative reasoning project directors for additional feedback and suggestions.

      Having approached the end of the first year of our project, we will be examining the variety of these learning opportunities and assessments that were used and helping faculty refine them. In addition, a new cohort of faculty will participate in workshops and planning sessions this summer. This work will be ongoing. We expect to have many specific examples of quantitative reasoning activities in disciplinary courses by the end of summer 1998.

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